Los Angeles Travel Answers

LA and Disney in 2 1/2 Days`

Me and my friend will be in US on Mar-Apr and will have a stop in LA & Anaheim on 04-06 Apr. Please help us plan our short trip so that we can see the best of these places. We're planning to go to Disney on 04 Apr and spend the rest of 05-06 Apr in LA and visit Hollywood, Beverly, Downtown, etc. Kindly guide us on our short trip.

Re: LA and Disney in 2 1/2 Days`

Perhaps just do Disneyland on the 4th and head to L.A in the eve.If no car, you can head straight o downtown LA by using the Amtrak via the Anaheim Station by Angel Stadium. If you can manage a trip to an Orange county beach before L.A., it would be great.

On the 5th of April, check out Downtown L.A. and Pasadena in the morning. Fun stops downtown (LA Live, 7th and Fig, Santee Alley, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Jewelry district) downtown. Nice scenery in Old Town Pasadena for shopping and touring. Take the Gold Line rail for efficient travel to and from both if you won't have the car.

On the 6th of April you could do Hollywood, Bev Hills and Santa Monica for the beach. Travel from downtown LA to Hollywood is pretty fast if you take the Red Line subway. Off the stops in Hollywood are the main tourist sights you'll want to see. Beverly Hills is not that far away from Hollywood. Take a trolley tour there from Rodeo Dr. I did that and it was a lovely ride. Santa Monica's super fun. I prefer it to Venice Beach for overall diversity of activity. The 6th will be on Saturday, so there should be lots of activity happening on the Santa Monica pier.

I have lots of L.A area tips on my VT pages if you need other ideas. Have fun!

Re: LA and Disney in 2 1/2 Days`

Great ideas, but so little time. Disneyland on the 4th. Spend from opening till closing and stay nearby in a motel in Anaheim. Best of these places other than Disneyland is more up to what you might enjoy. See the Virtural Tourist Travel Guide for Los Angeles to get an idea of what VTers think and see what you may like to see.Start the new day with a visit to Long Beach and a highlight besides what has been mentioned would include The Queen Mary . See: http://www.queenmary.com/From there head into Los Angeles proper and Exibition Park to the California Science Center to see in person the Space Shuttle Endeavour near the Coliseum and the campus of the University of Southern California. See: californiasciencecenter.org/...Head downtown to old Los Angeles and visit Olvera Street for good mexican food and shops. Try the Cielito Lindo world famous taquitos. See: cielitolindo.org/aboutus/his...Late afternoon and head to Hollywood. Stay in a hotel on Highland Ave to see the Walk of Fame and at night see City Walk at Universal just past the famous Hollywood Bowl. See: http://www.citywalkhollywood.com/Your third day can be spend starting in Beverly Hills and the street of streets, Rodeo Drive. See: http://www.rodeodrive-bh.com/map.htmlAfternoon and head to Santa Monica and the 3rd Street Promenade for shopping and restaurants. Don't forget the Santa Monica Pier in the early evening. See: http://santamonicapier.org/fun/I don't know if you could even get all of this in without a rent a car. Good Luck and don't stop to read a book. You will need all the freeway time to contend with. I love LA. ;-)

Re: LA and Disney in 2 1/2 Days`

Above all else, please keep in mind logistics--many visitors leave L.A. with a negative opinion due to their frustration with travel. It sounds like you've got seperate hotels lined up for both Disneyland and L.A. This is a good idea since I've spent up to 2 hours traveling from L.A. to Anaheim. I believe you can enter the park an hour early if you stay at a DL hotel. Plan for a full and long day to do as much as you can. Adjacent to DL is Downtown Disney which is free and a nice place to have a meal on your first night of arrival. While at the parks, plan on attending one of the night shows; either Fantasmic at DL or the new light show at California adventure. My favorite is Fantasmic--the new show at California Adventure seemed to be too all encompassing and an overdone plug for all things Disney. But plan to stake out a seat at least an hour before the show begins. (Tip: seriously make use of the 'fast past' options for popular rides).

As for L.A., your options are endless depending on your interests. Do you want to hit the tourist highlights? Or, do you want to discover the gems of L.A.? I would start one day in Hollywood at the intersection of Hollywood & Highland. Nearby, you will find: The Kodak Theatre (Home of the Academy Awards), Hollywood Walk of Fame, Wax Museum, Mann's Chinese Theatre (with star's foot and hand prints). If you have time and interest, look into the starline shuttlebus tours at Mann's Theatre and let them drive you around Beverly Hills and give you a tour of homes of the stars (starlinetours.com/los-angele... ). Note: from Hollywood & Highland, you can take a 5 minute subway ride directly to Universal Studios which could fill a 1/2 day or more of fun! Upon arrival at the Universal City station, just take the shuttle up the hill to the entrance (or walk). Dining option: Katsuya (yelp.com/biz/katsuya-los-ang...

On a seperate day, plan to take the Sunset Blvd. drive to Malibu in time for an early seafood lunch at Malibu Seafood Fresh Fish Market(yelp.com/biz/malibu-seafood-.... On your return, visit the Getty Museum in Brentwood and don't miss their beautiful gardens. ( For hours, and parking: http://www.getty.edu/visit/hours/). If time permits, plan a stop at Rodeo drive for some shopping and dinner(if you want to wait out traffice). My favorite local Italian Restaurant is Da Pasquale, it is family run and is not at all snooty (yelp.com/biz/da-pasquale-res....

Note: Your enjoyment will rely heavily on your logistical planning. Make sure you know where you are going and have specific driving directions. Also, plan around heavy traffic times when sightseeing. For instance, plan on getting on the Road from the Getty Museum by 4pm.

Let me know if you have any specific interests you'd like me to address. And have a great visit!